Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest ancient rabbinic sages, once said that the greatest principle of the whole entire Torah is “V’ahavta l’re’echa k’mocha”: You should love your neighbor as yourself. Holiness is in what we do in this world, in this plane. We serve God most — we are at the highest point on the mountain — not when we feel good, but when we stretch beyond ourselves and offer ourselves to those who need, quite badly, what we have to offer.
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
(via progressivejudaism)
